He and President Obama would have something in common, they would serve as legislators from Illinois. Rumsfeld was a House Representative from 1962 through 1968. He was a very different fellow back then. He served on the Congressional Joint Economic Committee, the Committee on Science and Aeronautics and the Government Operations Committee as well as a member of the Subcommittee to Military and Foreign Operations.
Get this, he would be a co-sponsor to the Freedom of Information Act, only to see it trashed in favor of The Patriot Act. Basically. The Patriot Act is the underlying problem to The National Security State that now exists in the USA.
He lied economics, but, he also like seminars at The University of Chicago. Imagine that. My, my how desperate a man to abandon his identity in order to remain Republican. He liked the idea of an all voluntary military and though Milton Friedman was an important economist.
The first illicit war of the USA was backed by Rumsfeld.
..."With only a small number (click here) of U.S. military advisers on the ground, the Vietnam War had not been an issue in my first campaign for Congress in 1962," Rumsfeld wrote in his memoir, "Known And Unknown," which is scheduled to be released Tuesday. "After Johnson became president and the American war effort expanded, I was willing to support a more robust military campaign in Vietnam, as were many others in Congress....
In May of 1965, when a Vietnam War appropriation bill came before the House, and President Johnson urgently requested an additional $700 million for the Department of Defense and he voted for the appropriations. Some say Rumsfeld was skeptical of the war, but, in what I read at this link (click here) his musings was more about politics and the tone of the Johnson administration. I found a lack of self in his writings, so much as organizing his thoughts to protect his Congressional seat.
What I found most interesting about his writing was the recognition President Johnson disavowed his responsibility to the entrance into Vietnam. He never state he opposed the war based on shoddy evidence, rhyme and reason. He believe the war important, political and salable as important to the country. He was a willing partner to the deception of the American people still in fear of communism and The Domino Effect.
